»07/23/2012ASIAAsian shares plunge because of a weaker euro and ChinaThe Euro is at its lowest point against the yen. Fears persist that Asian exports to Europe will drop further. China cuts growth forecast. For the Japanese government, the slowdown in the world economy becomes more widespread.

The
euro slipped to 94.73 yen after touching 94.63, the lowest in 12 years.

Shares
reflect the fragility of the eurozone, made worst by Spain's heavily indebted Valencia region, which asked the central
government for financial help to avoid bankruptcy.

The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds shot up above 7 per
cent, a level that is untenable.

The eurozone is a key market for Asian exports and there
are concerns that demand from the region may decline in the near term.

To the already difficult situation, the Japanese
government added the opinion that the global economy is cooling.

"The slowdown in the global economy is becoming more
widespread," the Cabinet Office said in a monthly report released in Tokyo
today.

Song Guoqing, an academic member of a monetary policy
committee with China's central bank, said that China's growth will slow down
further.

"The consensus is that China's economic growth rate
will be close to 8 per cent in coming months, but I personally am more
pessimistic because there are problems on the export side," Song said at a
forum in Beijing on Saturday. In his view, China's growth may be 7.4 per cent.

The end of the month should also see the release of US
figures. All expectations are for slower growth.

EGYPT - ISLAMWhat Tayeb and Sisi said is big step towards a revolution in Islamby Samir Khalil SamirThe grand imam of Al-Azhar slammed literalist interpretations of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, as fundamentalists and Islamic terrorists do. He supports the urgent need for Islam's reform, especially in terms of teaching lay people and clerics. He also calls for an end to mutual excommunication (takfir) between Sunnis and Shias. Egyptian President al-Sisi chose to fight the Islamic state group after it beheaded 21 Coptic Christians, whom he called "Egyptian citizens" with full rights.

SAUDI ARABIA - ISLAMFor head of Al-Azhar, religious education reform is needed to stop Islamic extremismFor Ahmed al-Tayeb, it is urgent to come up with new educational programmes to avoid "corrupt interpretations" of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Islamic terrorism undermines the unity of the Muslim world. He blames Mideast tensions on a "new global colonialism allied to world Zionism". a speech by the Saudi king is read at the conference.